London’s late goals topple Storm

LONDON – The Guelph Storm surrendered four goals in the final three and a half minutes of the game as they were downed 5-2 by the London Knights in Ontario Hockey League play Wednesday night at Budweiser Gardens.

The Storm led 2-1 at the end of the second period following a scoreless first.

London tied the score with a power-play goal with 3:07 to go in the third and added the game-winner 62 seconds later. The final two goals were empty-netters.

Cedric Ralph and Isaac Ratcliffe scored for Guelph while Ryan Merkley and Alexey Toropchenko each had one assist.

Nathan Dunkley, Evan Bouchard, Cole Tymkin, Alex Formenton and Liam Foudy each had a goal for London while Bouchard had three assists and Billy Moskal, Tymkin and Tyler Rollo had two apiece.

London outshot the Storm 36-24 including a 17-9 advantage in the third. The Knights also went 2-for-4 on their power play while the Storm was scoreless on two power plays.

Anthony Popovich took the loss in the Storm net while Joseph Raaymakers picked up the win for London.

While the eight playoff participants in the Western Conference have been decided, the teams are jockeying for their final finishing positions.

The Storm is sixth in the conference at 28-26-5-4 while London is fourth at 36-23-2-2. Owen Sound Attack (32-22-3-5) is fifth, seven points ahead of the Storm. Saginaw Spirit (8-26-8-0) is seventh, one point behind Guelph, and Windsor Spitfires (29-28-3-2) are eighth, two points behind the Storm.

The Storm has five games remaining on their regular-season schedule. They’re to host Saginaw Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Sleeman Centre.